Veteran warhorse Ashok Gehlot or youth icon Sachin Pilot: Who will get the reins of Rajasthan?

Sachin Pilot and Ashok Gehlot

Throughout their election campaign in Rajasthan, the Congress not only evaded the million-dollar question of "kaun banega agla CM (who'll be the next CM), they also portrayed that their party is tightly knit despite constantly being attacked by the BJP for purported infighting.

After the leads swung the Congress’ way on December 11, veteran leader Ashok Gehlot drove to Sachin Pilot’s house. Later, both prospective chief ministerial candidates were seen sipping tea together.

After their confirmed victory, the question still prevails: who will lead the state of Rajasthan – veteran warhorse Gehlot or youth icon Sachin Pilot?

Ashok Gehlot

Gehlot has played a significant role in the political lobby since 1971, when the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi appointed him as the first president of Rajasthan’s National Students Union of India (NSUI). Gehlot was 20 then. Over time, he built a strong rapport with the Gandhi family.

Gehlot was first elected to Parliament in 1980, from where he went on to win Lok Sabha elections four more times. He has been representing the Sardarpura constituency, a seat he won this time by over 40,000 votes, since 1999. He has won five consecutive terms in the Assembly from the Sardarpura.

At the Centre, Gehlot has held ministries of tourism, civil aviation, sports and textiles between 1982 and 1993.

In 2013, even though Gehlot won from his constituency, he lost the bigger battle because of anti-incumbency. A lackluster performance vis-à-vis development, communal riots in Bharatpur and Gopalganj and corruption led to the impending doom that befell Gehlot in the last assembly election.

Experts also attributed Gehlot’s loss to the mistakes committed by the UPA at the Centre and Gehlot’s uncharismatic image amongst the Jats, who form a significant population of Rajasthan.

Sachin Pilot

Pilot, on the other hand, is very popular among the youth and a favorite of the party. When the Congress lost the 2014 general election from Rajasthan, Pilot had vowed not to wear his saafa (turban) until Congress comes back to power in the state.

Since then, Pilot has refocused his attention from national politics to state-level challenges. He worked hard to revive the party from the rout it faced in the last assembly polls.

He travelled for over five lakh kilometres through the length and breadth of the state to strengthen the party at the grassroots level and ensure its comeback.

The 'young gun' won his seat from Tonk with a margin of more than 54,000 votes. He has shown maturity as he successfully walked many a tightrope – balancing urban and rural needs and demands, establishing ground-level connect as well as reaching out to tech-savvy youth, engaging with grassroots workers but also dealing with the galaxy of party stalwarts in the state.

During his tenure as MP, he served as a member of the Parliament's Standing Committee on Home Affairs, consultative committee in the Ministry of Civil Aviation and also Budget Estimates Committee of Parliament.

It remains to be seen who is handed the rein of the state by Rahul Gandhi — Gehlot, whose favourite trick as a magician was said to be changing a BJP flag into a Congress one, or Pilot, who dreams of flying the Congress high.

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